This looks like a little girl playing at dress up in her mother's clothes and jewels.............this is not a good look on her at all.

The color of the gown looks washed out with her tan, Her HAIR, please do something with all those curls, those curls are not for formal events, makes her look sloppy and uncared for.

It would have been a better fit if she had some meat on the bones, a chignon in the back on the lower part of her neck, those diamond earrings and less dark eye make-up. The bling on the neck........toooo much, to heavy and to old looking for a young lady. Guts tells me after reading all the recent press reports of the Queen taking control of wanting Catherine to look more royal that this was her idea of looking royal.............wrong way to go...........less is always more!

When your JOB is to draw attention to a cause by your mere presence then unfortunately your dress and appearance will be scrutinised. Stop the bleeding heart routine, this is what is expected of her it's her role so do it properly! She has the people at her disposal to ensure she makes an impression so she should utilise them.

BTW when I read the other royals thread regarding their clothes/style there is just as much criticism as for Catherine. She needs guidance in posture, style and hair. NOT because they are awful, but because they need to step up to the position that she now holds.

My opinion.

Her JOB is to draw attention to a cause but it seems that the main concern here is how to showcase her jewellery to the best effect (best with her hair up). In this case, maybe she should stop wearing jewelry to events so people could concentrate on the cause instead.

Btw, this is not a new piece of jewelry even though it's her first time wearing it Why is is so important that her hair must be up so that the necklace could be seen clearly? The only time i think this necklace must be seen clearly is unless this necklace is to be auctioned off in aid of the cause and she is modeling it.

Althogh she is not a CP, there are quite a few other CP's with whom she could be compared, in her age group who exhibit proper posture and the dignity for the role she represents. She has been given a wide pass, now she needs to grow up.
And, for the record,imo her hair is not beautiful, it is just hair. And she has a job and needs the right hair for it.

Life, like me, is too short - I think she is doing well and improves all the time. And the people who meet her say that she contributes a lot to her patronages - not just a the events we see. And that is the real job.

__________________

This precious stone set in the silver sea,......This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

Bad hair does not disqualify her for the job - it's just hair. It isn't life threatening nor will impact on the monarchy.

Just think, if every time one of us had bad hair we lost our job......... and what about people like my husband who has no hair - he'd never have a job.

A voice of reason, cepe!

The level of significance attached to every detail of Catherine's appearance and demeanour by some here is strange. There's nothing inappropriate about the way she looks at this event. The dress is fine, the necklace is fine, the hair is fine. Some people may not like her hair down and curled, (I certainly wish she'd try something new), but that doesn't mean Catherine is doing anything objectively wrong.

Where is the commandment that says Kate needs to show up at these things looking like a photo shopped model robot in order to be a success at her job? None of the other members of the British royal family, (including QEII), do that, and despite the protestations of some, all of the other European princesses I've paid attention to over the last five or six years have had PLENTY of moments where they've looked inelegant and less than perfect, (and I can think of a couple of instances where their looks and sometimes even behaviour was completely inappropriate for their surroundings).

This looks like a little girl playing at dress up in her mother's clothes and jewels.............this is not a good look on her at all.

The color of the gown looks washed out with her tan, Her HAIR, please do something with all those curls, those curls are not for formal events, makes her look sloppy and uncared for.

It would have been a better fit if she had some meat on the bones, a chignon in the back on the lower part of her neck, those diamond earrings and less dark eye make-up. The bling on the neck........toooo much, to heavy and to old looking for a young lady. Guts tells me after reading all the recent press reports of the Queen taking control of wanting Catherine to look more royal that this was her idea of looking royal.............wrong way to go...........less is always more!

I think Catherine looks beautiful and I love that The Queen is encouraging her to wear more substantial jewels by lending her pieces from her own collection instead of the very understated jewelry we typically see her wear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SElizabeth

This looks like a little girl playing at dress up in her mother's clothes and jewels.............this is not a good look on her at all.

The color of the gown looks washed out with her tan, Her HAIR, please do something with all those curls, those curls are not for formal events, makes her look sloppy and uncared for.

It would have been a better fit if she had some meat on the bones, a chignon in the back on the lower part of her neck, those diamond earrings and less dark eye make-up. The bling on the neck........toooo much, to heavy and to old looking for a young lady. Guts tells me after reading all the recent press reports of the Queen taking control of wanting Catherine to look more royal that this was her idea of looking royal.............wrong way to go...........less is always more!

Wow! Really rather harsh comments. I couldn't disagree more. How do you wash out a deep blue color with a tan? Doesn't even make sense. She is blessed with gorgeous thick hair that women of all ages wish they had and curled or not, she looks beautiful. Diana wore far more elaborate jewelry and was younger than Catherine when she did. I say the more bling, the better. She is a Royal Duchess and some day she will be Queen Consort. This is only the beginning of seeing her in major jewels.

I love this dress and the necklace is gorgeous and significant loan. I wish she would have won her hair up for maximum effect of the necklace.

However, I do understand why she has kept the hair. It took me years to change my hairstyle. I would experiment in front of the mirror but would go back to the usual before I went out. The more you feel people are judging how you look, the more likely you will remain in your comfort zone. Her hair is her safety blanket and she is likely to keep it like this. Frustrating because we want to see her experiment, yes. But it's no reason to insult her

I'm thrilled to see a major piece of jewelry being worn by Katherine, thus I'll reserve comments on the hair, although it would have been nice to see those 38 (or is it 28) diamonds that form the chain of the necklace.

From up thread - is it unusual that the Queen and the Duchess of Cambridge will be greeting the guests and watching the performances and then afterwards they will be joined by other members of the Royal family including the DOE? Wouldn't the DOE normally be greeting guests as they arrive?

Quote:

Originally Posted by soapstar

Kate's hair has really caused quite the reaction. I didn't realize that it was inappropriate to wear loose curls with a diamond necklace.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would Kate need to wear a petticoat or a slip? From all of the pictures I've seen, there's nothing showing.

For all we know she was wearing a slip underneath - you certainly cannot tell one way or the other from the photos as the dress is not see through, although in one shot the way the underskirt shimmers and moves under the transparent over skirt could give that impression.

I like that dress but not the colour and she could have repeat at least one of the some gorgeous dresses from the 2012. I remember the beautiful one from the opening of the olympics or the lilac worn in L.A. Anyway HER HAIR! It hides the necklace!
Did you see the video of the short speech? She stumbled on her words again!:-( I think she feels very insecure although I can't understand why! Maybe she feels uncofortable with her body ( she shouldn't, she looks great). She kept her hands on her stomach all along! Please Kate! I personally find her prettier with an healthy weight on.

I think Catherine looked wonderful last night. The dress was great, and I am pleased to see her reuse it from last autumn. It is also good to see her get the confidence to wear serious jewels well. I was also pleased to see HM share some of her personal favourites with Catherine.

The hair, I am afraid, was not a success. I am not on the hair-up brigade, but I thought, in this instance, there was too much untamed hair towards the front that was framing her face. So in summary, good to see she is experimenting with her hair, but this was not quite the unqualified success she may have hoped for.

I've just noticed something else I think is strange about her appearance that night. She wasn't carrying an evening bag, and it makes her look like one of the organisers, not a guest. If she had a nice shiny bag to clutch in her paws she would have something to do with her hands, making her look less awkward in that regard.

__________________"That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, -- and call off Christmas!!!"